Sibling Assignment #134: The Geography of Coeur d'Alene Lake

I gave the assignment this week. Three simple words: Coeur d'Alene Lake.  You can read Silver Valley Girl's here and Raymond Pert's soon.

I have always wished I could own a big speed boat for a day and travel all the shorelines of Coeur d' Alene Lake in northern Idaho. Perhaps it would take more than a day because it has 109 miles of shoreline. As a child I could never figure out how we traveled down the highway toward St. Maries and ended up at one end of the lake at Harrison, or turned at Wolf Lodge and arrived quickly at Beauty Bay. I took the Danceawanna from the town of Coeur d'Alene across the lake and ended up at Kid Island Bay at Camp Neewahlu and also remember heading to Worley to find Windy Bar. Those 109 miles are filled with names that have always been a part of my memory.

Arrow Point, Turner Bay, Blue Creek Bay, The Shady Rest, and the original Tony's are a few.  Squaw Bay, Camp N-Sid-Sen, Camp Easton, Templins, and Rockford Bay still rattle around in my memory. Some of the names were on signs we'd see while traveling to Moscow. Others were names friends would mention in talking about their lake places. We didn't have a lake place , but did visit a float house at Beauty Bay the day I learned to water ski.  TA's family had a tiny Terry trailer that was parked at Arrow Point each summer for vacation. CL went to Arrow Point and seemed to water ski every day of the summer. Arrow Point seemed like a mystical place when I was a child.

The natural beauty of the lake remains. It doesn't matter which mile of the 109 miles of lake shore I drive, a  beautiful photo image of the blue lake is waiting. Somewhere along the way the lake lost the rustic feel beyond the shoreline. People with money discovered places along the lake and put in gated communities . A guy named Duane decided to capitalize on the lake, the shoreline, and the tour boats and has turned the Coeur d'Alene end of the lake into a destination spot. Arrow Point is known more now for Derailers which are served in a  large white bucket with lots of straws. More people visit Worley for the casino or the golf course than the bays that surround it. Now Kid Island Bay is on the map again because Dennis Franz purchased the land.

When I returned to Camp N-Sid-Sen last summer for a writing retreat it was closer to what I remembered places on Coeur d'Alene Lake to be from my youth.  The Chaffee Chapel was there. The  lake shore was untouched by speed boats, mansions, slips for a hundred boats. There were still canoes and orange life jackets.  The same is true at Wolf Lodge Bay. The eagles still have places to feed because there aren't condos, resorts, and boat slips that fill the bay. I think some of the rustic float houses are still at Beauty Bay. Camp Easton, a camp for Boy Scouts, is still in the same spot, but expanded to both sides of the highway close to Turner Bay. I am always guaranteed of seeing One Shot Charlie's in Harrison. 

The Coeur d'Alene and St. Joe Rivers still spill into this massive lake. The native people still own the southern third of the lake.I still yearn for the smell of pine needles, lake water, and campfire smoke. There are still a few places untouched by progress that take me back to that rustic time as I continue to pull out the water stained map and study the geography of Coeur d'Alene Lake.

Appeciation for Geraniums

When the weather is hot, the air is dry, and August just limps along in the garden you can always count on geraniums to be the showstoppers this time of the summer season.

Collections on Film: Part 1

I love to take photos of stuff... things that are placed together in some form of collection. Whether it is a bunch of books on a shelf,

fruit on a platter,

cherries in the colander,

  flowers in a bouquet,

shiny ornaments,

or beautiful wine glasses at a friend's house.

Ten Things Necessary for a Successful Camping Trip

1. school supplies to play arts and crafts

2. a few fluffy summer paperbacks

3. Off mosquito lanterns... the best invention in the world for camping

4. campground to ourselves

5. good, hardy breakfast

6. a camera

7. an obsessed dog that can warn us of squirrels

8. another one that can alert us when cars drive by

9. hiking trails that aren't steep

10. a quiet place to read

"Remember the Sabbath. Keep it Holy.": Sibling Assignment #133

Raymond Pert gave Sibling Assignment #133. "Reflect however you'd like upon the idea of the sabbath and your practice of it." Silver Valley Girl's words of wisdom are here and RP's will be posted when he finds wireless again.

About five years ago I read a book about honoring the Sabbath and loved the idea of chosing a day during the week-end that we would keep holy and rest.  This was during a time that I was exhausted most of the time and had a therapist reminding me every session that I needed to slow down and rest. Week-ends were my catch-up time. It was the time we shopped, I did laundry, worked outside, cleaned, and caught up on school work.

A guy I taught with discussed his ritual one time when we were sitting together at lunch. Every Saturday he slept in, didn't use a clock, rested the whole day, prayed and fasted. I loved the idea of a day of rest, but didn't know how I could do it.

Slowly I tried to make changes. JEJ and I tried to set aside time on Sunday after church for ourselves. We would rest, take a hike, go for a drive, or do something other than work. We weren't consistent about it though. Spring would come and I would want to do yardwork. During the fall I would want to rearrange the living room. In December I would want to decorate the house for the holidays.
Last year I set a goal not to do school work on week-ends. Dragging home work always got in the way of honoring the Sabbath. It was a big step for me, but I enjoyed the quiet time at school on Friday afternoons. Everyone else left early on Friday. I stayed and organized myself and planned for the next week. That moved me closer to honoring the sabbath.
Arriving home after church, taking time for a nap, then enjoying our surroundings is how we like to spend Sunday honoring the sabbath. We just need to make it a habit, a ritual. It sure makes the work week start off on a much better note.
I am glad Raymond Pert had me revisit the idea of Sabbath. I do want to rest, reflect, rejuvenate, and keep  it holy. It is the best thing I could do for myself during the week.

Quiet Time in the Forest

We found ourselves in quiet surrounding and cool temperatures at the Kettle Crest on Sherman Pass.

 It was a perfect time to catch some photos, rest and read, and hike around the area.

I even found some huckleberries!